


A Stranger In My Life

by rosethorngirl



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Iron Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Abusive Pepper, Abusive Relationships, Based On Promt On Avengerkink, Did Anybody Else Know Hilary Duff Songs Were Actually Really Good Cause Wow, F/M, Haven't Decided Bruce or Clint Endgame For Tony Help Me!, Hurt Tony Stark, I Really Don't Hate Pepper btw So I'm sorrrrryyyy!!!, Insecure!Tony Stark, M/M, Marvel MCU - Freeform, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Originally Posted on LiveJournal, Protective of Pepper/In Denial!Tony Stark, Rating Will Definitely Go Up If I know Me, abused Tony, more tags to come i'm sure
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-17
Updated: 2014-11-16
Packaged: 2018-02-25 17:02:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2629469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosethorngirl/pseuds/rosethorngirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s No Kindness In Your Eyes. The Way You Look At Me, It’s Just Not Right. Yeah, I Can Tell What’s Going On This Time. There’s A Stranger In My Life. You’re Not The Person That I Once Knew. Are You Scared To Let ‘Em Know It’s you! If They Could Only See You Like I Do…Than They Would See A Stranger Too…</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Stranger In My Life

**Author's Note:**

> Title: A Stranger In My Life  
> Rating: T/PG-13 (Rating Will Go Up)  
> Genre: AU, Romance/Angst/Drama  
> Pairing(S): Tony Stark/Bruce Banner, Tony Stark/Clint Barton, Tony Stark/Pepper Potts  
> Character(S): Avengers Ensemble  
> Additional Tag(S): Marvel MCU, Abusive!Pepper, Abused!Tony, Hurt!Tony, Protective Of Pepper!Tony, Insecure!Tony, Dub-Con/Rape Mentioned But Not Graphic, Haven’t Decided Bruce or Tony for Endgame, Based On Prompt, I Really Don’t Hate Pepper Okay?, More Tags Probably To Come, Rating Will Most Likely Go Up, Could Eventually Be A Series, Did Anybody Else Know Hilary Duff’s Music Was Actually Really Good, Cause Wow  
> Summary: There’s No Kindness In Your Eyes. The Way You Look At Me, It’s Just Not Right. Yeah, I Can Tell What’s Going On This Time. There’s A Stranger In My Life. You’re Not The Person That I Once Knew. Are You Scared To Let ‘Em Know It’s YOU! If They Could Only See You Like I Do…Than They Would See A Stranger Too…  
> Disclaimer: Only Own The Plot and Even That Belongs To My Muse, So Don’t Sue Unless You Wanna Just Be An Asshole…Cause Seriously Not Making A Profit Off This…  
> A/N: I’ve got too many stories and too much RealLife shit going on! Why am I doing this??? LOL! Anyway, enjoy and let me know what you think and if you think Bruce or Clint cause I don’t know yet.

Chapter One

Nobody believes me when I tell them that you're out of your mind.  
Nobody believes me when I tell them that there's so much you hide.  
You treat me like a king* when we go out,  
wanna show everyone what our love's about.  
All wrapped up in me whenever there is a crowd,  
But when no ones around…

There's no kindness in your eyes,  
The way you look at me, it's just not right.  
I can tell what’s going on this time,  
There’s a stranger in my life.  
You're not the person that I once knew.  
Are you scared to let ‘em know it's you?  
If they could only see you like I do,  
Then they would see a stranger too...

Did I ever do anything that was this cruel to you?  
Did I ever make you wonder who was standing in the room?  
You made yourself look perfect in every way,  
So when this goes down, I'm the one that will be blamed.  
Your plan is working so you can just walk away,  
Baby your secret's safe.

There's no kindness in your eyes,  
The way you look at me, it's just not right.  
I can tell what’s going on this time,  
There’s a stranger in my life.  
You're not the person that I once knew.  
Are you scared to let ‘em know it's you?  
If they could only see you like I do,  
Then they would see a stranger too..

Such a long way back from this place that we are at.  
When I think of all the time I've wasted, I could cry...

There's no kindness in your eyes,  
The way you look at me, it's just not right.  
I can tell what’s going on this time,  
There’s a stranger in my life.  
You're not the person that I once knew.  
Are you scared to let ‘em know it's you?  
If they could only see you like I do,  
Then they would see a stranger too..

There's no kindness in your eyes,  
The way you look at me, it's just not right.  
I can tell what’s going on this time,  
There’s a stranger in my life.  
You're not the person I once knew.  
Are you scared to let ‘em know it's you?  
If they could only see you like I do,  
Then they would see a stranger too..  
“Stranger” by Hilary Duff

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The first time it happens, Tony is so shocked he doesn’t even register the pain in his cheek.

In all their years together, both employee and romantic partner, Pepper had never raised a hand to him. 

Never. 

Not even when he might have actually deserved it for being overly crude while drunk.

She had yelled at him, sure. Gotten angry with him, of course. But she had never smacked him hard enough across his face that his head was jerked to the side and a handprint was left on his cheek already starting to bruise.

Tony felt like he had entered an alternate universe for half a minute, because there was no way his girlfriend – his Pepper – just hit him. But he slowly turned his head to face her, not bothering to hide his hurt and confusion, just to check and make sure anyway.

Sure enough, Pepper was standing there menacingly with her hands on her hips and panting angry breaths. Her eyes were like brush fire, burning with rage and un-forgiveness. It was like staring at a completely different person altogether, and the violent energy she was putting out caused him to take an unconscious step back.

The funny things is, he doesn’t even know what he did to piss her off.

He walked into the office with lunch, thinking she’d like a break from CEO-ing, and got the cold shoulder. When he started laying the Chinese out on the small coffee table, there was radio silence. But when he walked over to the desk and asked her if something was wrong, she sprang up from her seat and whaled him across the face. He honestly couldn’t help the surprised noise he made as it happened.

Because Pepper has never, and would never, hit him without a reason. 

A good reason.

So he knows he must’ve done something seriously wrong, but he doesn’t know what it is. Unconsciously, he steps back again; feeling scared for the first time in his life by a woman he never would have associated the feeling with in this context.

He drops his head, almost submissively, feeling anxiety begin wrap around his mind. He can’t figure out how to feel. Should he be angry at her for striking him? No, because he did something wrong. Pepper loves him and she wouldn’t hurt him like that for no reason…right?

A soft gasp causes him to raise his head, and he feels some of his fear begin to ebb away as he sees Pepper begin returning to herself. Tears are filling her eyes, and the hand she hit him with is covering her mouth. He’s torn between staying where he’s at, and comforting her because he can’t stand to see her cry. And obviously it was his fault, right?

“Oh my god, Tony,” she sniffles and reaches for him.

He comes, like he knows she wants him to and allows her to hug him. He can’t help the slight tenseness in his posture, but he does his best to relax and ignore the sting in his cheek as he nuzzles her neck.

“I’m so sorry, baby,” she cries. “I didn’t mean it. I just read a report online that you went out yesterday and saved fisherman’s boat from capsizing and you hadn’t told me. After what happened with the Malibu house I get so afraid something will happen to you if I don’t know where you are every minute. Especially when oceans are involved.”

Tony nods into her neck. “I’m sorry too. I forgot to tell you. I had finished the redesign of the Mark 67 and I needed to test its air travel, when I saw the guy struggling to get his crew in position to handle the boat. It was windy yesterday, and the waves were a little strong. It was no big deal, really…”

“I just wish you had told me. And it is a big deal.” She leans back and Tony does the same, still feeling slightly off balance but better. “Your life is a big deal, Tony. I love you too much for you not to remember that.”

“I’ll try harder,” he responds as evenly as he can, not wanting to incite an argument. 

She smiles at him, and Tony feels the rest of himself relax. Because that’s his Pepper. 

“So you brought lunch?” she says after leaning forward to kiss his lips.

He nods and leads her to the table, putting the thought of the bruise on his cheek out of his mind. 

He’d pass it off as an Iron Man wound. He was fine.

Everything was fine….

….until it happened a second time, two months later….

….and then a third, fourth, fifth….

The sixteenth was far more than a simple smack. It involved wine glasses and kicking. Tony had done his best to cover his face, but unfortunately after being kicked in the shin with an expensive stiletto, he fell to the ground where the glass shards were and cut his face up. It was only when Tony actually cried tears, begging her to please just stop and talk to him that Pepper stopped her assault; but he never got an apology.

She helped him clean up and took him to bed; said it was time for make up sex. He knew he owed it to her, because he had upset her again; but he honestly wasn’t in the mood. A first for them, but he was just so tired. 

They could do it in the morning.

She didn’t listen though, even as he tried to push her off. The pain he was in was against him though and she pulled his pants down anyway, stroking and sucked him to hardness, ignoring his protests. He was completely unresponsive as she rode him, but he got off. That didn’t count as rape right? Because if he really hadn’t wanted her, he would have shoved her off. Not laid there and took it like a wimpy kid. She passed out afterwards and those were the thoughts he was left with. 

As the months passed on he became more and more withdrawn and Pepper’s erratic behavior continued. It was getting worse and more frequent, and he could only explain clumsiness or mission-related injuries so far. The Avengers were even beginning to get suspicious. Especially when Pepper would join them for dinner and reach up to stroke Tony’s hair, and he’d unconsciously jerk away before looking embarrassed and leaning into her touch.

He could practically feel all their eyes on him and flinched when Pepper rested her hand on his thigh and squeezed it with her claw like nails. He was in trouble, and he knew it.

The press even began to notice, but thought it a positive change. A not-so-snarky Stark, meant a more serious and less of an asshole Stark. One they didn’t need to censor.

They took the change at face value, thought he was just getting older and more mature. One magazine even praised Pepper for taming the beast…Tony nearly threw up at the headline.

It wasn’t until late December that Bruce finally approached him. Pepper was apparently going to spend Christmas with her parents, and needed time to herself away from Tony. He couldn’t find it in himself to be upset about this, so he let her go without a complaint.

He was sitting in the common room nursing a scotch and Bruce came to sit next to him.

“Tony.” 

…and he knew that tone

Knew it far too well, if he was honest. He could feel his walls slam up high and tight, and his fight or flight screaming at him to flee.

“Yeah, Bruce?” he asks tightly, hoping to keep any vulnerability from showing.

Bruce frowns, “Where’s Pepper. Christmas is in two days.”

“With he parents,” he answers in a clipped tone that gave a way nothing.

“Why aren’t you there?” 

Tony had a few options. Answer honestly, which no. Answer flippantly, which he wasn’t sure if he was capable of anymore. Or answer indifferently, which he was just buzzed enough to pull off.

“Didn’t want to be there,” and he takes a swig.

Bruce’s frown deepens. “Is there something wrong between you two?”

Tony’s hands begins to shake. Yes, there is something wrong but for the life of him he can’t figure out what. What he did exactly to make Pepper hate him so much.

No. She doesn’t hate him. She loves him. Like he loves her. He just needed to stop making her so angry all the time. He just needed to stop fucking up so much. He needed to remember to be quiet, and loving, and anticipate her needs, and talk sweetly to her, and not assume anything, and tell her where he is, and all the other rules she has for him. He just needed to be good.

“No, Bruce. We’re fine.”

And he’s so used to the words by now he doesn’t even realize how rote they sound until they leave his lips. He gets up, a little unsteadily and leaves the room without another word. He feels like he just made a mistake again, but he doesn’t know what. Pepper isn’t there to tell him.

It’s going to be another sleepless night. 

He texts Pepper to let her know he’s in bed, not expecting a response and not receiving one. But he said I love you anyway. Like he knows he’s supposed to. Good boyfriends always say I love you, no matter what.

But he lays awake all night, just like he expected to.

Christmas morning two days later, finds Tony in a screaming match with Steve and Clint. How dare they even mention Pepper’s absence, let alone accuse her of abandoning him for the most important holiday of the year. Because she didn’t, obviously. She needed time to relax, and they could celebrate Christmas whenever. It didn’t have to be on the exact day. And furthermore, they bought shit for each other all year long. What is one day where that’s the main thing compared to every other day?

It isn’t until Steve raises a hand hits the table in frustration from Tony not listening that Tony finally shuts up.

No. Shuts down.

Totally and completely. 

His face goes blank and the color leaves his cheeks. He can feel his shoulders slumping inwards and feet stepping back. He doesn’t hear Clint coming forward and talking to him quietly, like speaking to frightened animal; nor does he hear Clint yell at Steve who is apologizing profusely. He does, however, feel Natasha come up beside him and wrap him in a half hug. Ironically it’s that that snaps him out of wherever his mind just went and he jerks violently away, covering his face and falling to the floor apologizing/crying.

More crying than apologizing. 

Thor walks into this and looks bewildered at his teammates, not understanding what is happening. Bruce decides it’s time Thor know what’s been going on, and leads him from the room to talk.

Clint finally gets Tony to stop crying and sits him on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate. He carefully wraps a blanket around the smaller man’s shoulders, and smiles gently at him. Tony does his best to hide his face from embarrassment.

“Tony, I’m so sorry,” Steve says again and Natasha glares at him from her position on the opposite loveseat. “We’re just so worried about you.”

“Don’t need to be worried about me,” he says and stares into his mug, letting the warmth spread into his weirdly chilly hands. “I’m fine.”

Clint snorts and Natasha silences him with her glare turned towards him. 

“Tony,” she says, managing to sound almost motherly and making the engineer almost uncomfortable, “you are not fine.”

He looks up at her with as defiant a stare as possible. “Yes. I am.”

Clint sighed next to him as Natasha’s mouth thins and Steve looks sad.

“Please, Tony. Stop covering for her,” Clint pleads and Tony looks over at him, shocked.

“Covering for who, Barton?”

“Pepper,” everyone says in unison as Thor and Bruce walk back into the room.

Thor looks a cross between solemn and angry, Bruce looks calm and determined, and Tony glances around trying to get with the joke. Seriously what were they all doing?

“What are you all talking about?”

Steve groans. “Tony, we know. We know she abuses you, and we want her to stop. We want you to know you’re worth more than that!”

“Abuses me!” the engineer splutters, nearly dropping his mug. “WHO the fuck – “

Clint takes his mug before he spills it and says, “It’s obvious.”

“Not exactly proficient with arnica cream,” Natasha nods and pulls her legs up underneath her.

“And you flinch whenever she touches you,” Steve adds, crossing his arms.

Tony’s mouth is wide open. He can’t believe these people.

Bruce sits on the coffee table in front of Tony, while Thor takes a seat beside Clint. “Tony you came to training with rather large bruises on your side. Like you had been kicked or stomped on…repeatedly. Female hand sized bruises on your cheeks. For a month you walked with a limp. There was that time we hadn’t had a mission in two weeks and you showed up to breakfast with scratches all over your face, congruent with glass cuts…”

“I bruise easy. And I’ve been careless in the shop,” Tony shrugs and looks down, biting his lip unconsciously. “Price to pay for being a part time welder slash inventor.”

“My ass,” Clint replies with an angry noise. “You do not bruise that easy! What’s next, you fell down some stairs?”

“Maybe I did!” Tony says indignantly.

Natasha clears her throat before the archer could reply. “Tony. You don’t bruise easy. Nor did you fall down any stairs. Pepper gave you those injuries, and we know she did. JARVIS confirmed it.”

“Friend Tony,” Thor says in a concerned voice, “I want to help you improve your situation in any way I know how. You do not deserve this treatment from someone who claims to hold your heart with hers.”

Tony looked down, ashamed. How dare JARVIS tell the team. How dare the team call him out and expose his weakness, reminding him of how useless he is. This time away from her was supposed to be a vacation for him too, not a time to get accosted by people he loves like family.

“I do deserve it,” he finally whispers. “I make her so angry. She gets so worried about me being Iron Man; and sometimes I forget to tell her about what I do when I’m out saving people. I keep her up sometimes with my nightmares because I’ve been having so many after what happened with the Chitauri. She has my company to run, and because I have to be such a narcissist and spend my time pretending to be a superhero, I get myself traumatized and I keep her up.”

“That is the biggest bunch of shit…really, Tony? Really??” Clint says and shakes his head, making Tony withdraw a little more.

The disapproval in the room was making his eyes mist. He didn’t like feeling so inadequate.

“Who else would love me?” Tony says angrily to the archer. “You? Don’t make me laugh. You’d drop me like disease the first time I smarted off. Everyone does. Everyone has! None of you here even wanted me on your team, it had to be a last resort!” Natasha put her head down at that. “Pepper loves me, and has always loved me! I’d do anything for her!”

“Including let her smack you around whenever she doesn’t like something you did,” Clint challenges. “That’s not love, Stark. That’s control.”

“Well why shouldn’t she have control, huh?” he spits and stands up. “She controls the company perfectly. She runs my life smoothly. She handles everything! She has control and she should! I’m shit at having control of anything but least of all myself!”

“Tony!” Bruce says imploringly. “Listen to yourself.”

“No,” he snaps and glares at every one of his teammates. “I’m done listening to this crap. Thanks for fucking up my holiday everyone. Have a Merry fucking Christmas and help yourself to food I was having delivered and the presents I left for you under the tree.”

He begins to storm out only to turn around and scowl once more at the people who were supposed to be his friends that were looking guiltily at each other. “Oh, and by the way; stay away from me and Pep. Don’t talk to me about her, and don’t you ever try and tell me how she’s abusing me. It’s a lie! So fuck off!”

And with that he stormed out of the room and towards the elevator at the end of the hall. 

He’d celebrate Christmas alone in his workshop with a bottle of aged whiskey and whatever take-out joint open. 

Yeah. Merry Fucking Christmas.


End file.
